Ministry plans to cover 1m more informal-sector workers for social security

national September 04, 2018 01:00

By The Nation

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THE LABOUR Ministry hopes to cover an additional one million informal-sector workers as voluntarily-insured people for social security payments starting in 2019.

So far this year, more than 300,000 informal-sector workers – such as taxi drivers, motorcyclists and those working from home – have entered the system, taking the total number of voluntarily-insured people to 2.5 million. Thailand has 21 million informal-sector workers.

Thailand has a total of 15 million insured people under the social insurance system.

The target, under Article 40 of the Social Security Office (SSO) Act, was disclosed by Labour Minister Pol General Adul Sangsingkeo, at an event in Bangkok celebrating the SSO’s 28th anniversary yesterday.

Voluntarily-insured people, who must be aged between 15 and 60 and have independent jobs, have three payment options:

Option 1: Pay Bt70 monthly contributions to get three benefits. They include Bt300 per day in hospital due to accident or sickness to compensate for a lack of income (up to 30 days per year); Bt500 to Bt1,000 per month to compensate for a lack of income due to disability (up to 15 months); Bt20,000 death/funeral-assistance compensation, plus another Bt3,000 if the person had paid contributions to the SSO fund for more than 60 months.

Option 2: Pay Bt100 monthly contributions to get the three benefits plus an additional one-time old-age pension at the age of 60 when retiring from the SSO. This also has a condition that the person must have paid contributions to the SSO fund for more than 180 months.

Option 3: Pay Bt300 to get five benefits. They include Bt300 per day for hospitalisation due to accident or sickness to compensate for a lack of income (up to 90 days per year); Bt500 to Bt1,000 per month to compensate for a lack of income due to disability for the rest of his/her life; Bt40,000 death/funeral-assistance compensation; a one-time old-age pension payment at the age of 60 with an additional Bt10,000 if the person has paid contributions to the SSO fund for more than 180 months; and Bt200 per head per month in child support (for up to two children).